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Untitled

A work made of acrylic paint on cast acrylic.
© 2018 Robert Irwin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

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  • A work made of acrylic paint on cast acrylic.

Date:

1969

Artist:

Robert Irwin
American, 1928-2023

About this artwork

“How is it that a space could ever come to be considered empty when it is filled with real and tactile events?” Robert Irwin asked in 1977. A pioneering figure in California Light and Space art, Irwin had launched a series of luminous disk paintings one decade prior: Untitled comprises a single, spray-painted, convex plastic disk, cantilevered 12 inches from the wall. Four lights are angled toward the disk to produce a diaphanous array of overlapping shadows. These seem to merge with the painting’s radiant core, blurring the distinction between what is material and what is immaterial. On the one hand, Irwin’s work is elusive and illusory. On the other hand, the artist’s explorations of perceptual phenomena led him to conclude that “all ideas and values have their roots in experience,” which is always, importantly, “conditional.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Robert Irwin

Title

Untitled

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1969

Medium

Acrylic paint on cast acrylic

Dimensions

In: Diam.: 137 cm (53 15/16 in.); H.: 137.2 cm (54 in.)

Credit Line

Barbara Neff Smith and Solomon Byron Smith Purchase Fund

Reference Number

1969.244

Copyright

© 2018 Robert Irwin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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